Sword Art Online Volume 12

arranged by a power hierarchy where the spectrum of strength divides everything. Although primitive, their military is mighty. They have barely half the population of humankind, yet each individual is easily more powerful than a human being. Even now they wait outside the empire, looking forward to the day that they invade the territory of the Iums, as they call you, and wreak untold suffering. That day is close at hand.” “A military…” The thought put more than a shiver down my back. The goblin captain I faced in the cave under the End Mountains two years ago was a true and mighty fighter. The thought of thousands upon thousands of them spilling into peaceful towns froze my innards. I shook my head rapidly in disbelief. My throat dry, I said, “…Th-there are many guardsmen and knights in the human lands…but they don’t stand a chance. Especially not when the sword techniques here are focused on presentation…” Cardinal promptly nodded in agreement. “As I expected…I suspect that in Rath’s plans, the humans would have formed a military equal to the Dark Territory’s by now—one nurtured on constant minor skirmishes with invading goblins, promoting healthy authority level growth in its fighters, with practical swordfighting and group strategy. But as you know, the situation is far from that ideal. Swordsmen pursue only the visual look of their styles without a single honest fight, and the nobles meant to lead any theoretical armies are pampered and self-obsessed. And all of this is a result of Administrator and her Integrity Knights.” “…What do you mean?” “The Integrity Knights have the highest authority level and Divine Objects for weapons and armor. They are mighty indeed. Just eight of them are enough to fully patrol the End Mountains and drive off any invading bands of goblins. But that means that centuries have passed without any ordinary citizens being faced with the experience of battle. They lead lives of safe, comfortable stagnation, knowing nothing of the impending calamity that awaits them…” “…Does Administrator know that the final phase of this stress test is about to begin?”

“I suspect that she does. But she is confident that she and her thirty knights alone will be enough to fight off the hordes of darkness. So confident, in fact, that she had the guardian dragons of the four cardinal directions slain; they should have been valuable allies in the fight, but she could not stand that they were not under her command. I have no doubt that your partner would be sad to hear that the legendary white dragon from his fond myths was actually killed by Bercouli himself, once reforged as an Integrity Knight.” “…Probably shouldn’t let him know, then,” I muttered with a sigh. I closed my eyes, envisioning the mountain of bones I saw in that cave, then looked up again. “So what’s the score? When the forces of darkness invade, can Administrator and her Integrity Knights actually fight them off?” “They cannot,” she said bluntly. “The Integrity Knights are fierce warriors with many years of experience, but there are simply far too few of them. And Administrator’s sacred arts are virtually godlike in their ability to disrupt the land, but as I said earlier, using them means putting herself within range of those foes. And while individually, they may fall far short of Administrator, there are as many users of system commands—what you might call dark magic, in this case—as stars in the sky. She might burn a hundred with lightning in one moment, and then be engulfed by a thousand fireballs the next. I do not know if that would actually kill her, but it is clear that she would eventually be forced to retreat to this tower.” “Um…wait a sec. Are you saying that…whether or not you and I beat Administrator, the ultimate fate of this world will be the same?” I asked, stunned. “That even if you regain the full powers of the Cardinal System, you won’t actually be able to fight off the forces of darkness?” She nodded gravely. “That is what I am saying. At this point, I have no means of preventing the invasion from the Dark Territory.” “…So…as long as you fulfill your purpose of deleting the malfunctioning main process—meaning Administrator—then…whatever happens to the world after that is none of your concern? Is that what you’re saying…?” I rasped. Cardinal pursed her lips, her eyes somewhat mournful as she stared through her little round glasses at me.

“…That may be correct.” Her voice was so faint that it nearly blended into the minute sound of the lamp’s flickering flame. “Indeed…if you look at it from the standpoint of the many souls that could be lost, my goal could be taken as an abandonment of the larger picture…But if you and I sit here and do nothing, then eventually…whether in a year or two or longer, the forces of darkness will invade. They will trample and burn fields and towns, and they will kill many people. It will be a hell that I haven’t the words to describe—the ultimate expression of tragedy and cruelty. However…even if I recover all my powers and had the proper command to burn all those monsters into ash at once, I would not use it. They did not ask to be made monsters. As I said, you will not arrive at an answer even after a century of thinking. For you see…if Administrator had never come about here, and humanity had traced the path it was meant to follow, then at this time it would be the forces of man forming an army to invade the Dark Territory and commit unspeakable atrocities to their peoples, instead!” Her soft voice got harder and harder until it cracked like a whip by the end. “In either case, the end of the world will involve great bloodshed. For that outcome was the design of the god Rath. And I…I cannot accept such a god. I will not accept this outcome under any circumstances. So when I learned that the arrival of the stress test was unavoidable, I landed on one simple conclusion. I would eliminate Administrator before that happened, restore my powers as the Cardinal System…and reduce the Human Empire, the Dark Territory—the entire Underworld—to nothingness.” “Reduce it…to nothingness…?” I repeated. Belatedly, my eyes bulged. “What does that mean…?” “Just what it sounds like. I will delete all the fluctlights in that cradle of souls, the Lightcube Cluster. All of them, from both the human and dark side.” The determination on Cardinal’s young face was so stark that I was unable to speak for several moments. Over time, the concrete facts of her final solution began to form a proper image in my head. “So you’re saying…that if the horrible agonizing deaths of many people is an inevitability, that it’s better to put them all into a painless death before it reaches that point…?”

“Painless death…? No, that description is not accurate,” Cardinal said, pausing briefly as if consulting an internal database. “Unlike you humans from the upper world, whose records are stored on a different medium than the lightcube, the souls of the Underworldians can be obliterated with an instantaneous command. They will simply vanish without a clue, and without any greater resistance than the flickering of a candle…which does not change the fact that it is still an act of murder…” There were traces of deep resignation and powerlessness in her voice, as if this conclusion had been reached only after a very long period of consideration. “Of course, in ideal terms, the best outcome is for this world to continue free of Rath’s meddling, fashioning its own history. After a few more centuries, perhaps even a peaceful accord between humanity and the Dark Territory is possible. But…I suppose you would know best of all that total independence from our god Rath is nothing but a pipe dream, wouldn’t you?” I bit my lip to think, surprised by the sudden question. I didn’t know where in Japan the actual Lightcube Cluster that housed the Underworld was installed. But naturally, the cluster and all of its attendant machinery required a considerable amount of power to run. In that sense, true independence was functionally impossible. And Rath wasn’t running the Underworld as a charity. If my conjecture was accurate that Seijirou Kikuoka was part of the SDF, and deeply connected to the foundation of Rath, then the Defense Ministry must have a concrete goal in mind for it. Even if Cardinal recovered all her power, opened an external channel, and demanded independence for the Underworld, Rath would never accept it. In fact, thinking about it now, even if I made it to the top of Central Cathedral, contacted Kikuoka, and begged him to preserve the current state of the Underworld, there was zero assurance that he would agree. To Rath, all these artificial fluctlights were test subjects. In fact, this particular Underworld was just one of a number of attempts. Ultimately, if the artificial fluctlights wanted true freedom and independence, there was only one way to gain it—to take the fight to the people in the real world.

I had to stop myself from taking that line of thought any further—it was too frightening. I looked up at Cardinal and nodded, my neck stiff. “…You’re right. It’s not possible. This world is too dependent on the outside people and energy sources to ever be independent.” “Aye…we are like fish in a bucket, waiting to be fried in a pot. The best we can do is jump out now to certain death,” Cardinal said, resigned. But I did not immediately support her conclusion. “But…I’m not totally sure. Maybe you’re right that vanishing instantaneously is a better answer than dying in agony. But I’ve become too involved with the people of this world to accept that as the only correct way.” The smiling faces of those who’d shown me kindness in Rulid and Centoria flashed through my mind’s eye. I had no desire to see them slaughtered by the forces of the Dark Territory, of course, but would helping Cardinal delete everyone’s souls really be the best choice? I bit my lip, unable to accept this sudden, unwelcome thrust of reality. Gently, Cardinal said, “Kirito, if I am able to regain my full powers with your help, I can fulfill your wishes, up to a degree, before I eliminate the Underworld. If you single out the names of those you wish to save, I will freeze their fluctlights and save them, rather than wiping them clean. Then, after you escape to the real world, you can save the lightcubes that contain the souls in question. I doubt that ten would be impossible to set aside. It may not be the best possible solution for you, but it is better than you can expect.” “…!” I sucked in a sharp breath, surprised by her answer. Was that even possible? If lightcubes didn’t need power to maintain their stored information, and you could safely extract them from the cluster without harming the contents, then the fluctlights themselves shouldn’t ever degrade. It would take time, but if the Soul Translator tech became commonplace, I could theoretically thaw them out and see them again in the future. The problem was the step before that. Could I really sneak multiple cubes out of the cluster at the very core of the Rath laboratory? According to Cardinal, they were two inches to a side. I couldn’t hide several in my pockets at once.

Even if I could carry them in a case, ten was about the limit of what I could extract. So if I accepted her offer, that meant I had to choose the souls I wanted to save. This wasn’t like organizing save data on a game console. In a fundamental sense, the artificial fluctlights were just as human as I was. I would choose just ten in this entire world to save from certain death—and only because I got along with them. Did I have the right? Was I qualified to do such a thing? “I…I…” But I couldn’t bring myself to say the word can’t. Cardinal stared right through me, seeing all. The only thing I could produce was a pathetic complaint. “Why did you single out me to be your coconspirator in fighting Administrator, anyway? Let me be clear: I have barely any unique advantages at all in this world. There are tons of people with better skill at sacred arts and swordfighting. In fact…even Eugeo. I bet that if we really fought head-to-head, I couldn’t beat him anymore.” Once I was done with my feeble, passive defense, Cardinal shook her head in exasperation. She filled the cups on the table with cofil tea—or perhaps it was real coffee this time—and took a sip. “…It was only twenty years ago that I realized that the stress test, the invasion from the Dark Territory, was inevitable. After that, I redoubled my efforts to find someone to fight on my behalf…” I kept my further complaints to myself, sensing that her long, long story was finally reaching its conclusion. “…But no matter how skilled in sacred arts and weapons the allies I could find were, there was one other huge obstacle to approaching Administrator that needed to be removed, aside from the Integrity Knights.” “…You mean there’s more?” “Indeed. I considered dozens of possible solutions as my search dragged on, but none was particularly practical…As time passed, and I realized we were in

the prelude stages of the Dark Territory invasion, more and more advance parties began threatening the End Mountains—enough that the eight Integrity Knights tasked with protecting the area couldn’t eliminate them all. Just when I was starting to consider giving up on forcibly restoring my authority and risking death in an attempt to convince Administrator instead…one of my familiars picked up on an extraordinary, impossible rumor spreading around the northern frontier lands.” “Impossible…?” “It was the sort of event that had certainly never happened after Quinella became Administrator. In order to prevent human settlement from spreading, she had set up massive impediments around the map…and one, a gigantic, resource-sucking tree with nearly limitless priority and durability, got chopped down by two boys.” “…Sounds familiar…” “I sent my northern Norlangarth agent, Charlotte, to find those boys. She finally tracked them down just before they left the village. I had Charlotte hide in the hair of one of them, the sloppier one, so that I could seek the answer of how they eliminated a near-indestructible object…” I wanted to respond to the “sloppy” comment, but then I remembered that Charlotte had been riding on my head for nearly two years without my realizing. I scowled and motioned for Cardinal to continue. “I learned the direct reason promptly. The boy with the light brown hair possessed a sword, a Divine Object with few peers in the entire world. It was a legendary weapon only granted to heroes accepted by the world’s dragon guardians, before they were slaughtered…But learning this only brought me fresh questions. Why would these children have such a high object control authority? It was an excitement I had not felt in years. I listened closely to their conversations, day and night. Nearly all of it was idiotic and pointless—” “Geez, sorry.” “Shut up and listen. Eventually, in an inn along the way to Centoria, I finally understood the reason why. To my surprise, these two had vanquished a largescale scouting party from the Dark Territory unaided, according to what they

were saying. If true, that meant they each received half the authority advancement points that would normally be distributed among dozens of fighters. That explained how you were able to equip the weapon…but again, it raised more questions. How was it possible that two boys raised in a rural village without even a proper armed garrison managed to defeat the vastly more powerful goblin warriors of the Dark Territory?” “Just to be clear, that was ninety percent bluff,” I interjected. Cardinal made to scold me, then paused and seemed to accept it. “Ah…yes, I suppose that would have been part of it. It took me quite a while before my doubts about this finally thawed. The black-haired boy—you, Kirito— seemed to be taking care with his statements out of concern for his partner, Eugeo. But when I saw you give extra food to a wild animal—a stray dog—I felt a shock like a bolt of lightning. I realized you were totally unbound by the Taboo Index…” “…Did I do that…?” “Several times. It would have caused great trouble if anyone had seen you. After that moment, I paid keen attention to everything you did and said, through Charlotte’s eyes. Especially after you reached Centoria and passed through the gate of the North Centoria Imperial Swordcraft Academy. After a year of observation, I came to my answer at last. I knew you were not a soul born in this world and trapped in a lightcube…but a human being from the outside, the world where the god of creation Rath exists…” “Then I suppose I’ve let you down. I don’t have any of the administrative privileges or means to contact Rath that you’d expect…In fact, I don’t even know what’s going on in the outside world right now…,” I said apologetically. Cardinal grinned and raised her index finger. “I knew that from the start. If you had a higher system level than Administrator, you would not have suffered such a wound to defeat those goblins with a sword. Even I cannot surmise the reason you are in the Underworld in this state. Perhaps it is some kind of accident…or a data test with your memory and abilities limited. If the latter, it seems that you have paid a greater price than necessary.”

“…Yeah, no kidding. I can’t believe I’d agree to something like that,” I muttered, recalling the pain in my shoulder where the goblin captain sliced me. “But even still, you were the greatest opportunity I could have hoped for. Your existence itself would help me overcome that other great obstacle to fighting Administrator.” “And what is that obstacle?” “The Synthesis Ritual requires an extremely lengthy spoken command and a vast amount of parameter adjustment. Including the preparatory stages, the entire process takes three full days.” Once again, this sudden topic change threw me for a loop. But Cardinal proceeded onward. “Meaning that when it comes to ordinary combat, a sacred art that accesses the lightcube directly is not really a factor. In other words, there is no danger of having your soul taken over and turned into an Integrity Knight in the midst of battle. However, what if Administrator abandoned the idea of absorbing my chosen warrior and decided simply to destroy the soul altogether…? Without requiring stringent parameter adjustment, the command would become dramatically shorter. She might even finish the spell while her guards were still fighting. We can defend against direct life attacks with equipment and sacred arts. But if she attacks the fluctlight directly, there is no defense. This was a quandary that troubled me for many, many years.” “…An attack against the soul…That’s pretty chilling…” “Just so. Even the most skilled combatant is helpless if their memories are torn to pieces…Which means that you are the only one who can withstand such an attack, Kirito. Your Divine Object of the outside world, the device called the STL, transports your soul into the Underworld, and Administrator cannot harm it—there is no such command. Now do you see why I have awaited you so badly? It is the reason I have waited and worked so hard to install as many back doors as possible, to ensure that I could spirit you here into my library, in case you won the Unification Tournament or broke the Taboo Index and found yourself setting foot onto the Axiom Church’s territory…” At last, at long last, Cardinal had brought her story up to the present moment.

She exhaled, her cheeks a bit reddened. “…I see. So that’s what this is about…” Even at this late stage, I didn’t know why I was here on a dive into the Underworld. If anything, my journey to the center of the world where I might find a way to contact Rath was as much to learn the reason as anything else. But after hearing the story from this girl who had lived such an extremely long time, it was hard to argue against the idea that I was guided here by a kind of fate. The outcome of our battle against Administrator was uncertain, but there was a kind of divine voice telling me to do my utmost to help Cardinal and take ten people at maximum out to the real world with me… But even before weighty concepts like fate came into the picture, I simply couldn’t look into the eyes of a girl who had waited for two hundred years for this exact moment and tell her no. Over and over, she insisted she was an emotionless program, but over the course of her very long story, that seemed less and less true. Cardinal was another human being with her own emotions, just like me—even if she was bound by her great duty to correct the state of the world. “What do you say, Kirito? I cannot force you…If you decide you cannot agree to my plan to wipe the world clean, I can send you and Eugeo out of a back door of your choosing. If so, and you find some way to defeat Administrator and achieve your goals, you might be fighting me next…but I suppose that is simply fate at work…” And then, Cardinal gave me a dazzling, transparent smile, one that suited her visual age better than any expression I’d seen yet. I held my silence for a long, long time and then asked, “Cardinal…you said that your soul was a copy of Quinella’s, right…?” “Aye. That is absolutely correct.” “Then…you must have the blood of pure nobles, too—the genes that command you to pursue your own profit and desires. Why didn’t you give all of this up and just flee for your life? You could go to some distant village, a place so far and insignificant that even Administrator couldn’t find you, fall in love, get married, have children…and then grow old and die happy. Wasn’t that your

wish? Your blood should have ordered you to fulfill that desire, for these two hundred years. Why have you been waiting here, alone, resisting your command for all this time…?” “You really are a fool.” She grinned. “I told you. The Cardinal subprocess’s reason for existence is carved into my soul. I have only one wish: to eliminate Administrator and restore normal function to the world. To me, there is no way to have a properly functioning world other than to wipe the slate clean. Therefore…therefore, I…” She faltered, and I stared through her glasses at her eyes. Those burnt-brown irises were wavering, clearly holding in some sweep of emotion. When her lips moved again, they emitted a voice that was barely even audible. “…No…that’s wrong…I…I do have a desire…Something that I just had to know…for these two hundred long years…” She closed her eyes, lifted her face, and stared right at me. She bit her lip in hesitation, folded her hands for several moments, then abruptly leaped to her feet. “Kirito, stand up with me.” “Huh…?” I got out of my seat. Once I was upright, Cardinal gazed at me, her back considerably arched. I wasn’t that tall in the grand scheme of things, but there was a big difference between me and the girl, whose appearance was that of a ten-year-old. Cardinal looked around, squinting, then put a foot on her chair and lifted herself up. When she had confirmed that we were at the same eye level, she nodded in satisfaction. “Good. Come here, Kirito.” “…?” I took a few steps until I was standing in front of Cardinal, still confused. “Closer.” “What?”

“Just do it!” I inched forward, despite my misgivings. When she told me to stop, our bangs were nearly brushing. A nervous sweat broke out on my skin as she stared into my eyes, then away. “Raise your arms.” “…Like this?” “Now make a circle with them in front.” “………” Tentatively—and half expecting her to bash me with her staff as soon as I actually did what she told me—I circled my arms around Cardinal’s back and touched my fingers together, making sure to leave space between us. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Cardinal made a cute display of clicking her tongue. “Oh, come now, don’t be coy.” Who, me or you?! I felt her arms circle around my own back, and then a mild pressure on the fabric of my shirt. My forehead knocked her large hat off onto the table, and her curly brown hair brushed my cheek. There was a mild weight and warmth on my shoulder and chest. “………” I withstood the incredible pressure of the silence for as long as I could, then decided I would ask her what was happening. But Cardinal broke it first, her barely audible voice the only sound in the vast chamber. “I see…So this,” she said, exhaling deeply, “is what it means to be human…” I gasped. After two hundred years of thinking about every possibility and strategy, the final thing that Cardinal would want to know could be nothing other than the warmth of another human being. No human being can survive alone; we are social creatures. To be human means to trade words with others, to join hands, to touch another’s soul. And

yet this girl had been isolated in this room with nothing but silent books for two hundred years. At last, I felt I was beginning to understand the reality of the life Cardinal had lived to this point. My arms closed, pulling on her back to form a closer embrace. “…You’re warm…” Something about the quality of her whisper was definitively different from her voice before. I could sense a small but undeniably warm drop of liquid slowly moving down my cheek. “…At last…It’s all been worth it…I didn’t spend those two hundred years…for nothing…” I felt another drop run down my cheek and disappear. “Just learning of this warmth alone…has made it all worth it. I am satisfied…”

* After a period of time (I couldn’t be sure how long), I felt the sensation of moving air and found that my arms were empty again. Cardinal was off her chair, picking up the toppled hat from the table. She patted it a few times and put it back on her head. When she turned back to me, pushing up her glasses, she was the businesslike sage once again. “How long are you going to just stand there like a fool?” “…Oh, come on…,” I protested weakly, wondering if those tears had been a trick of the mind. I rested against the side of the table, folded my arms, and exhaled. Cardinal waited in silence until she brought up the big question, rather simply. “So did you come to a conclusion? Will you take part in my plan or not?” “…” Sadly, I did not have the decisiveness to answer right on the spot. In logical terms, picking ten names and pulling them out to the real world with Cardinal’s help represented the best-case scenario. I could not have countered with a better idea. But just because I couldn’t think of one didn’t mean it didn’t exist. I wanted to believe there was a better option. So I looked Cardinal straight in the face and told her, “…All right. I’ll take part in your plan. But…” I spoke slowly, carefully. “But I’m not going to stop thinking about it. Even after we start fighting against the Integrity Knights and Administrator, I’m going to keep searching for a way—for a resolution that avoids the tragedy of the stress test and allows the world to stay at peace.” “You are quite the optimist. But I knew that about you already.” “It’s just…I don’t want you to disappear. And if ten is all I get to choose, you’ll be one of them.” Her eyes widened briefly, then resumed their usual wry expression. Cardinal shook her head dramatically. “…And you are stupid, to boot. If I escape from

the simulation, then who will wipe the world clean?” “Like I said…I understand the concept, I’m just not going to stop struggling to find a better answer along the way.” She looked annoyed, then turned away from me. Her voice rode the little ripple of breeze from the whipping of her robe, bearing with it the vast loneliness of two centuries that a moment’s embrace couldn’t heal. “Someday…you, too, will know the bitterness of resignation…Not from running out of strength and falling short…but being forced to admit that you will likely do so…Now let us return. Your partner will be finishing up that history book, I suspect. We ought to include Eugeo in the concrete planning stages.” She rapped her staff on the stone floor and headed down the way we came without a glance back at me.

2 As Cardinal predicted, Eugeo was just closing the cover of the heavy tome resting on his knees when we came across him sitting on the stairs. He looked dazed, still lost in that journey over centuries of history. I strode up to him and said, “We’re back. Sorry to have left you alone for so long.” For some reason, Eugeo shivered briefly, blinked hard, then looked toward me at last. “Oh…Kirito. How long has it been…?” “Huh? Uh…” I looked around, but of course, there were no clocks in the room or even windows. Cardinal cleared her throat and answered, “Roughly two hours. The sun has risen by now. What did you think of the human world’s long history?” “Hmm…What can I say?” Eugeo replied, biting his lip and casting around for the right words. “…Is everything written in this book what actually happened? It just feels…like I’m reading a list of very convenient fairy tales. I mean, most of the entries are just, ‘Such and such a problem arose at this place, the Integrity Knights resolved the matter, and after that point, such and such an entry was added to the Taboo Index’…That’s all it is.” “But that is what historical record is. And the Axiom Church’s style is to block each and every hole of the sieve until the water no longer passes through,” Cardinal spat. Eugeo looked shocked. I couldn’t blame him—I was sure he’d never heard someone openly criticize the Church that way, especially someone who appeared so young. “Um…so, who are you…?” “Oh, her name is Cardinal,” I answered. “She’s, uh…another, former pontifex.

She got kicked out by the current pontifex, Administrator.” Eugeo made a strange sort of gulping sound deep in his throat and backed away. “It’s okay—you don’t have to be afraid. She’s going to help us fight against the Integrity Knights.” “H-help…?” “That’s right. She’s got a mission to stop Administrator and restore her own rule over the world. So we’re, uh…working for the same side,” I said. It was extremely brief, and although I didn’t lie to him, I wasn’t about to explain that Cardinal’s first act after she regained control would be to bring about the premature end of the Underworld. I’d have to talk to Eugeo about it eventually, but at this moment in time, I couldn’t begin to guess how I’d broach the topic. My partner, who was essentially the personified concept of honesty wearing clothes, stared at Cardinal without a shred of doubt in his eyes and grinned weakly. “I see…That’s very good news, then. Well, if you were the old pontifex, doesn’t that mean you can tell us if the Integrity Knight Alice Synthesis Thirty is the same person as Alice Zuberg from Rulid? And if so…is there a way to turn her back to her old self…?” Cardinal looked downcast as she replied, “I’m sorry…but my sources of information from here are very limited. I only know what my modest number of familiars see and hear directly. My knowledge of the cathedral and the middle of Centoria is better, but the farther toward the frontier you go…I am aware of the birth of the Integrity Knight named Alice, but I have no means of knowing the details at this point…” Eugeo looked crestfallen at first, then sucked in a sharp breath when he heard what came next. “…However, I can teach you how to undo the Synthesis Ritual, the sacred art that creates an Integrity Knight.” Cardinal looked first at Eugeo, then at me, and intoned, “Simply remove the Piety Module that has been inserted into their souls.” “Pye…moju…?” Eugeo repeated, stumbling over the unfamiliar English

(“sacred tongue”) words. I helpfully added, “Module is a sacred arts word that means, uh, part. Remember what we saw when we were fighting Eldrie in the rose garden? When he started acting weird…” “Yeah…that purple crystal rod started coming out of his forehead…” “Precisely,” Cardinal said, using her staff to draw a line in midair and then bisecting it down the middle. “The Piety Module is designed to interrupt the connections between memories. Thus, it hides the future Integrity Knight’s past and forces absolute fealty to the Axiom Church and pontifex. However, such a forceful and complex spell is not stable by nature. If those crucial base memories around the module are externally stimulated and activated, it can start to undo the effects of the spell, as you saw for yourselves.” “Meaning…to undo the sacred art, you have to force the knight to confront their old memories?” I asked excitedly, but Cardinal did not confirm. “No, that would not be enough. There is another element that must be present.” “Wh-what is it?” Eugeo asked, leaning forward. “It is what existed in the place where the module is inserted—in other words, the knight’s most precious memories. Usually, this is their most deeply beloved person. Do you remember what you said to him to cause such a strong reaction?” Eugeo already had it on the tip of his tongue before I could recall. “Yes, it was his mother’s name. That almost caused the crystal to fall out of his head.” “That would be it, then…Eldrie’s memories of his mother were removed, and the module was inserted to take their place. Administrator does not need any of the Integrity Knight’s past, but memory is strongly tied to skill. If she removed all their memories, their ultimate strength as knights—sword skill, ultimate techniques, sacred arts—would be lost. So she merely impedes the flow of memories. I removed much of my own memory for the sake of prolonging my life, and much of the knowledge and ability I learned during that period was lost

along with it…” Cardinal then sighed and continued, “…To repeat, Administrator has taken the most precious memories of all the Integrity Knights. Unless you can regain those, even removing the Piety Module will not return the flow of memories to its prior state. And in the worst case, it might even damage the memories themselves.” “A piece of memory…But…then…what if the piece of memory that Administrator removes from the knights just gets destroyed?” I asked, hesitant to learn the answer. Cardinal frowned as she thought it over, then said, “No…I do not think she would do that. Administrator is a cautious woman above all else—she would not discard something that could be used. But I am absolutely certain she would store them in her chamber at the top of Central Cathedral…” The words top of the cathedral roused some part of my memory like a little jolt of electricity, but the sensation dissipated before I could pin it down. I tried to dispel the bad aftertaste by saying, “So we need those lost bits of memory to return the Integrity Knights to normal, but in order to get them, we have to break through the knights’ guard and reach the top floor where Administrator is…” “Do not presume that you can simply defeat the Integrity Knights without killing them,” she said, glaring at me. “All I can do for you is give you equipment that is the equal of the knights’. The rest comes down to how hard you fight against them.” “Wait…You’re not coming with us?” I said. I’d been counting on a helpful back-row mage with unlimited healing powers. But Cardinal simply said, “If I leave the Great Library, Administrator will instantly detect my presence, and we will be forced to fight both her and the combined power of all her knights. But if you are confident that you can tackle ten Integrity Knights at once, we might try it. Well?” She smirked at her suggestion, and Eugeo and I shook our heads in protest. “On the other hand, Administrator still likely plans to take you two alive and

make you into knights. If you leave alone, she will send a smaller number after you. Your only choice will be to defeat them in order and make your way up the cathedral.” “Hmm…” True—when outnumbered, it was smarter to use ourselves as bait to split up the enemy as much as possible. But even succeeding in that sense, we were facing the most powerful fighters in the world. We’d had plenty of trouble against Eldrie alone. If we ever faced two at once, I had a feeling we’d be done for. While I pondered, Eugeo took on a serious look and said, “All right. If we have to fight, we’ll fight, and if we have to kill…then we have no choice. I was prepared for that from the moment we broke out of our cell. But…what if we have to face Alice? I can’t fight against her—I’m here to get her back.” “Hmm. You are correct. I am aware of your quest, Eugeo. Very well, if you run across the Integrity Knight Alice, you may use these,” Cardinal said, removing two very small daggers from the pocket of her black robe. They were simply shaped, like crosses with the long end sharpened. The only decoration of any sort was a delicate chain running through a hole on the hilt of each. Cardinal gave us both one of the deep-copper stilettos. I reached out to grab the fragile handle between my fingertips and was stunned at its weight. It was less than eight inches long, but it felt as heavy as the official swords at the Swordcraft Academy. “What’s this…? Some kind of one-hit-kill superweapon?” I asked, dangling the dagger from the chain in front of my face to examine it. “That dagger is only what it looks like; it has nearly no attacking power,” Cardinal answered. “But anyone who is pierced by that blade will be instantly linked to me in the library via an unbreakable connection. In other words, any and all of my sacred arts are guaranteed to land on them. Those daggers are a part of me, you see. Eugeo, all you need to do is evade Alice’s strikes and hit her with that knife, anywhere on her body. It will cause hardly any damage. I will instantly put Alice into a deep sleep, one that will last until you can regain her memories and prepare to undo the Synthesis.”

“A deep…sleep…,” Eugeo muttered, looking down at the dark-red blade in his hand with suspicion. He seemed to be grappling with the idea of harming Alice, even with a flimsy little paper knife. I slapped him on the back and said, “Let’s trust her, Eugeo. If we do have to fight against Alice and our only option is to knock her out, we’ll all get pretty badly hurt, including her. Compared to that, a poke from this little thing is no worse than a greater swampfly bite.” “…Except they don’t bite people,” Eugeo corrected, seemingly back to his usual self. He turned to Cardinal and said, “All right. If we can’t argue Alice down, I’ll have to use this.” He gripped the dagger tight and nodded deeply to reassure himself. I let out a breath of relief and looked at my own cross-shaped knife. “…Cardinal, you said this was a part of you, right? What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked. She shrugged. “Just because Administrator and I can generate any kind of object does not mean we fashion them from nothing.” “Huh…?” “There is a finite amount of resources in the world. You know that from the way the Gigas Cedar prevented any fields from growing in its shadow. Along the same lines, if I want to generate an object of a certain priority level, I must sacrifice something of equal substance. When I battled against Administrator all those years ago, she summoned a sword, while I generated a staff—and at that exact moment, quite a few very valuable treasures vanished from her chamber, heh-heh.” She rapped the stone with the butt of her staff, looking rather pleased with herself. “But as you can see, the library is a closed-off space. I do not have any objects noteworthy enough to convert into a high-priority weapon. These countless books are, of course, very precious, but only due to their contents. I thought about using this staff, but I will need it to fight Administrator, which means that the only possible substitute to create these weapons is my own body. It is extremely valuable—I have the highest authority level possible in this world.”

“Your…” “Body…?” Eugeo and I stared at her tiny, fragile form from head to toe. I could sense how rude I was being almost instantly and turned my eyes away, but not before confirming that she had all her limbs. I started to comment but stopped myself several times before I finally said, “…S-so, um…you cut off part of your body, converted it into an object…and then regrew the part…?” “Fool! How would that be any kind of sacrifice? It is this.” She turned her head to the side and quickly ran her fingers through the short, bouncy curls of brown hair at the sides of her neck. “Ohhhh…your hair…” “The price for each dagger is a lock of hair that I was growing for two hundred years. If you had come sooner, I could have showed them off before I cut them,” she teased, but I caught the hint of sadness in her eyes. Perhaps that part of Cardinal came from the young girl who made up her bodily foundation. A moment later, she was the wizened sage once again. “For this reason, although they are small, the blades are sharp and tough enough to pierce the Integrity Knights’ armor. And because they are still, in a sense, part of my body, they can link to me through the void that surrounds the library. I fashioned these weapons for direct use against Administrator. I will need you to plant the blade into her body without falling prey to her fierce attacks. The other is a backup weapon, but as long as you’re successful the first time, you won’t need it.” “Wow…talk about laying on the pressure…” I glanced at the knife dangling from my right hand again and noticed that the shade of deep brown was the same as the hair visible underneath Cardinal’s hat. Despite the many confusing sacred words in the explanation, Eugeo seemed to accept the importance of the weapon. He stammered, “Umm…a-are you sure about this? You don’t mind if I use one of these precious blades for Alice…?”

“I am fine with it. And in either case…” She paused and looked right through me with those all-seeing eyes. Yes, in either case, if I was going to bring ten souls back to the real world safely, including Eugeo and Alice, I would need Cardinal’s help to undo Alice’s brainwashing. It would probably be better to save this explanation until after we got Alice back to normal. If it was at the side of someone he truly cared about, Eugeo might actually agree to the escape plan. I had to make him agree. I clenched the fine chain, realizing with no small frustration that I was already taking Cardinal’s world-obliteration plan for granted. Perhaps the end of the Underworld really was inevitable at this point. But even if that was the case, I needed Cardinal to be one of those ten—even if I had to deceive her to do it. I turned away to escape that omniscient gaze and opened my collar wider to slip the chain of the knife around my neck. Once Eugeo had done the same, I went back to something Cardinal had said earlier that bothered me. “By the way…you said that there needed to be some kind of price to generate objects. So what did you use up to create all the food and drink when we first got here?” Cardinal shrugged easily and grinned. “Don’t let it bother you. Just two or three books of law that nobody will miss.” Eugeo the history buff made another strangled gulp, clutching the chain around his neck with both hands. “Hmm? What, did you want more? You growing boys…” She lifted her staff and made to wave it, but Eugeo’s head and hands both waved frantically. “N-no, I’m full, I swear! I-I’d rather hear more of your story!!” “You don’t have to be shy,” Cardinal muttered with a grin that was so cheeky, I could have sworn she was teasing him on purpose. She lowered the staff, cleared her throat, and continued, “We’ve gotten a bit out of order. As I explained earlier, those two knives are my secret weapon. Your top priority is to stab your targets with them: Alice for Eugeo and Administrator for Kirito. Do anything you can to raise your chances of success—ambush, playing dead, anything. If there is any way that I believe you outrank the Integrity Knights, it is

your wiles…er, your practicality in a pinch.” Before Eugeo could lodge a righteous protest at that last comment, I said, “Completely agreed. If possible, I’d love to be able to utilize trickery all the way through…but sadly, they have the home advantage. We need to be outfitted for all-out combat. Earlier, you said you could give us equipment that was equal to that of the Integrity Knights, Cardinal. Does that mean you’ll be giving us piles of Divine Object weapons and armor?” Even in these desperate times, the old Aincrad instincts couldn’t help but react to the scent of a legendary gear event. But in contrast to my eagerness, Cardinal put on yet another exasperated face and said, “Have you been listening to anything I say, fool? To generate a high-level object—” “Right, right…you need to sacrifice an object of equal value…right…” “Don’t look like a child who just dropped his dessert on the floor! It is making me question why I asked you for help in the first place. For one thing, I believe you must realize that a weapon does not perfectly obey your commands from the moment you first touch it. No matter how powerful a blade I give you, it cannot hope to match the weapons the Integrity Knights have used as extensions of their very bodies for decades.” I recalled the way Eldrie’s whip had moved through the air with a mind of its own, like some silver snake, and had to concede the point. Even back in SAO, it was a kind of behavioral taboo to immediately put your new rare gear to real use without practicing with it first. My disappointment was more than dropping a dessert on the ground—it was like missing out on an entire holiday cake. Her reaction a mix of annoyance and pity, Cardinal continued, “And besides, why would I need to give you powerful weapons when you already have excellent and familiar swords?” “What?” Eugeo reacted instantly. “You’re going to get back my Blue Rose Sword and Kirito’s…black one?!” “I see no other option. Those two swords are truly divine. One is the weapon of one of the four dragon knights, and the other is the essence of a demonic tree that absorbed vast resources for centuries. Even Administrator and I would find it difficult to instantly produce weapons of that scale. And you both have

had plenty of practice with them.” “Oh…well, you could have mentioned that you can do that.” I sulked, leaning back against the nearest shelf. I’d mostly given up on retrieving the swords that were confiscated when we got thrown into the dungeon. Getting them back was the best possible news. “But…you can’t actually teleport them directly here, can you?” “No. I see you’re finally figuring this all out,” Cardinal said. She crossed her arms and looked troubled. “I suspect that your swords are being held in the armory on the third floor. The nearest back door will dump you out just thirty mels from there, but as you’ve now seen, any such door within the tower can be used only once. The insects that Administrator sends to look for me will swarm it at once, you see. So after you’ve left the door to get your swords in the armory, you will have to climb the tower on your own from there. Fortunately, the great stairs are right in front of the armory.” “Hmm, starting from floor three…and what floor is Administrator’s chamber on?” “Central Cathedral grows by the years, so I would guess…that it is close to a hundred floors by now…” “A hund…” My breath caught. True, the white tower was so tall that from any angle in Centoria, the top was always hidden from view…but I didn’t think it would actually have more floors than some real-life skyscrapers. The thought of potentially having a fight on each and every floor was a bit much, so I whined, “Um, couldn’t you start us at, like, the fiftieth floor instead…?” “It’s all in your perspective, Kirito,” interjected Eugeo, who between the two of us was always the optimist by a factor of ten. “The longer it takes us to get there, the more spread out our enemies will be.” “…Uh, well, maybe that’s true, but…” I let my back slide farther down the side of the shelf until I was sitting on the ground. I mumbled, “Well…I did climb the outside stairs of the old Tokyo Tower once…”

“Huh?” “Er, sorry, nothing. Anyway, I guess that decides our plan. First, we get the swords from the armory. Then we ascend the tower, defeating any Integrity Knights we encounter along the way. If we come across Alice, we put her to sleep with the knife and send her to the library. Once we reach the hundredth floor, we stab Administrator with the other knife and find Alice’s memory fragment.” At last, I was feeling like we had a mission blueprint in place. Then Cardinal said, “I’m afraid there is one more thing you must do.” “Uh…wh-what’s that?” “Your swords are indeed powerful, but they will not be enough to beat the Integrity Knights. They have a means of amplifying the abilities of their weapons to many times their original value.” “Oh…you mean the Perfect Weapon Control thing…?” Eugeo asked hoarsely. Cardinal explained, “Divine weapons take on significant qualities of the objects used as their foundation. Eldrie’s Frostscale Whip was once a twoheaded white serpent that ruled the largest lake in the east, until Administrator took it alive and converted it into a weapon. But even as a dormant whip, it has the speed of a snake, the sharpness of its scales, and the accuracy of its aim. Perfect Control is the state of unleashing the weapon’s memories and bringing about attacks that would normally be impossible.” “Great, so his whip turning into a snake wasn’t some kind of illusion magic…” I groaned and rubbed the mark on my chest where Eldrie’s whip had hit me, hoping that the white serpent didn’t have some kind of slow-acting venom. Cardinal continued, “All the Integrity Knights have Perfect Control over the weapons Administrator gave them—including mastery over the lengthy, speedy sacred arts commands to make use of them. You won’t have much time to practice the chants, but at the very least, you must learn how to unlock Perfect Control of your swords, or our chances of victory are fleeting.” “But…my black sword wasn’t even a living thing, it was just a huge tree…Is there even any memory to be unlocked there?”

“There is. Even that dagger I gave you harbors the memory—or nature—of my hair, so it can open a route to me when it lands, utilizing the same process as Perfect Control. Your sword, forged from the Gigas Cedar, and Eugeo’s Blue Rose Sword, based on the eternal frost of the cave, are no exception to this pattern.” “Y-you mean…it’s just…ice?” Eugeo gaped. I couldn’t blame him; the only special property of ice that came to mind was that it was really, really cold. I puzzled over that one a bit and then decided if one of the two gods in this world said so, then it had to be true. “Well…if you’re going to teach us how to do it, then I’m assuming that this Perfect Control technique will work with our swords, too. I’d be happy to get some killer ultimate attack. What’s it like?” Once again, I was not expecting her response. “Don’t be naive! I will describe how to unlock the technique, but what sort of attack style you make with it is entirely up to you.” “Uh…what?! How come?!” “The core of Perfect Weapon Control is the Memory Release technique, but just chanting a sacred art alone is not enough. You must use your mind to imagine the unleashed form of your trusty weapon. In fact, it is this mental process of recall that is more crucial to your success than the Perfect Control technique itself. For it is the power of the imagination that forms the fundamental basis of the world—the ability to incarnate what you envision…” I started losing track of the meaning of Cardinal’s rapid-fire explanation partway through. In particular, I was uncertain whether the word incarnate was meant to be from the sacred or common tongue, but before I could ask her to elaborate, something prickled in the back of my memory. It was…yeah, two and a half months ago. As I knelt before the loose petals of the tattered zephilia flowers in the garden of Swordcraft Academy’s primary dorm, someone—Cardinal’s familiar, the little black spider Charlotte— whispered to me. She too had mentioned that all sacred arts were nothing but a tool to refine and collect the power of imagination. I’d followed her suggestion and used my mind to envision the life energy of

the four holy flowers in the nearby beds flowing into the severed plants. I didn’t say a single word aloud, yet green light ran through the air, enveloped the buds…and brought the zephilias back to life. That must have been the “process of recall,” as Cardinal called it. In that sense, it would indeed seem to be impossible to express everything that phenomenon represented within the form of a sacred art command. Cardinal gave me a serene, knowing nod and then turned to Eugeo, who still seemed to be struggling with this. “Come with me. Let us take a break and then construct the arts.” We passed through the hallway of historical records, descended a number of staircases, and returned to the round room on the first floor of the library where we first appeared. On the table in the center sat the plates stacked with dumplings and sandwiches. Despite being at least two hours since they were served, the food was still steaming. In addition to healing the wounds of anyone who ate them, they apparently were also subjected to a spell that kept them from cooling off. The sight inevitably rekindled my hunger, but knowing now that all this had originally been books from the library made it difficult to act. Cardinal noticed us grappling with our inner conflict and said indifferently, “If you will not eat more, I’ll get rid of them. They’ll only interfere with the mental process.” “W-wait, at least just put them somewhere that we can’t see them. We’ll take some to go when we leave,” I pleaded. The girl shook her head, lifted her staff, and rapped the edge of the table. The huge plate sank directly into the surface, food and all. Following that, three chairs pushed their way up out of the floor, which Cardinal motioned toward. I sat down in one and stared at the now empty tabletop. Since the dumplings weren’t going to be summoned again, I decided to focus my mind on the image of my absent sword—the temporarily named Black One —but found that, given the few times I’d actually used it, I could not imagine all the fine details.

Eugeo tried the same thing and had a similarly frustrating result. He wondered, “Cardinal…can we really do this? How am I supposed to imagine my weapon’s unleashed form when it’s not even here…?” On the other side of the table, Cardinal said, to my surprise, “Its absence is better for the process. If you can see the weapon before your eyes, your imagination stops there. Your hands and eyes are not necessary to touch the hidden memory in the sword, guide it, and unleash it. You merely need the eye of the heart.” “The eye…of the heart,” I repeated, recalling the moment when the zephilias came back to life. As a matter of fact, I hadn’t touched either the holy flowers or the dying zephilias. I hadn’t even focused on them. I just believed and envisioned—the life overflowing, gathering, moving. Eugeo was nodding, as if he had found his own understanding. The blackrobed sage grinned faintly and commanded, “Now, you must envision your swords resting on the tabletop. Do not stop until I say so.” “…All right.” “I’ll give it a try.” We straightened up in our seats and focused on the empty table. Before, I’d tapped out after five seconds, but this time I kept staring; no need to rush. I started by emptying my mind. The Black One. Thinking about it now, I realized that it was rather cruel of me to have referred to it by such a lazy temporary name all this time. It took the craftsman Sadore an entire year to whittle the top branch of the Gigas Cedar down to the shape of a sword. He finished on March 7th. This was May 24th, so I hadn’t had it for even three months yet. Excluding polishing and practice, the only times I’d pulled it from its sheath were in the battle against first-seat disciple Volo Levantein, and the true combat against this year’s top student, Raios Antinous. That was it. And in both cases, the black sword had helped me with stunning displays of power that seemed to come from nothing but its very own will—even though it was I who had cut down the Gigas Cedar from which it was made. Our history

together was short, but when I gripped its handle and executed a sword skill with it, the sense of oneness and elation easily rivaled that of any other sword I’d used. Perhaps the reason I hesitated to give this sword a proper name was due to its contrast with Eugeo’s divine Blue Rose Sword. White and black. Flower and tree. Two swords that were similar, but opposites in many ways. Though I had no evidence for it, I’d been possessed by a certain foreboding ever since I’d left the village of Rulid two years ago. A vision of Blue Rose and black swords fated to cross one day. My logical side told me it wasn’t true. There was absolutely no reason that Eugeo and I, as the owners of the swords, would ever fight. But I got an intuitive sense that the same might not hold true for the swords themselves. For one thing, it was the Blue Rose Sword that actually cut down the Gigas Cedar… Rather than emptying my mind, I was filling it with memories and reflections —but still I envisioned the black blade lying on the table. A simple, rounded pommel. The black leather wrapped around the grip. The bold curve of the guard. The blade, on the thick side, black and a little translucent, like crystal, and totally unlike any wood I’d ever seen. It collected the light inside and glinted along the edge and point, which were as fine and sharp as a razor… The illusion of the sword, which had wavered uneasily in spots at first, began to grow firmer and more stable as my intruding thoughts gradually faded. Eventually it had a toughness, a weight, even a temperature. It exuded a powerful sense of presence on the table. As I gazed into the shining flat of the blade, I heard a voice from somewhere say, “Deeper. You must dive deeper, until you can touch the memory hidden in the sword, its true essence.” The black of the sword expanded without a sound. It covered the table, the floor, the bookshelves and lamps, and then the world. Only the sword and I existed in this infinite, lightless space. It rose up and came to a halt in the air, handle down and point up. My form rippled and melted, and I felt my mind getting sucked into the sword.

The next thing I knew, I was a cedar tree rooted in cold ground. It was a deep forest, and yet there wasn’t a single tree growing around me. I stood alone in a rounded clearing. I tried to call out to the moss and narrow vines crawling along the ground at my feet, but there was no answer. …Solitude. I was racked with desolate loneliness. With each breeze, I stretched my branches desperately, hoping to rustle against the others, but I came up short every time. Maybe I could reach them if I stretched farther. So I sucked in ground energy through my roots and light energy through my leaves. My trunk thickened, and my branches extended. My needlelike leaves stretched, grasping toward the shining green leaves of the closest oak. Alas! Just before I could finally make contact, the oak leaves turned brown, wilted, and fell all at once. The moisture drained out of the branches and even the trunk; it weakened and died, then toppled over from the base. And it wasn’t just the oak. All the trees at the rim of the rounded clearing were dying and crumbling. Soon their remains, too, were covered by the carpet of moss. I lamented my solitude in the now larger clearing, then sucked strength from the ground and sun again. My trunk swelled, creaking, and my branches expanded. This time I reached for the next closest tree, a laurel. Once again, its leaves wilted before I could touch them, the dead trunk rotted, and it toppled. So did the tree next to it. And the one after. More and more trees fell, and the empty space grew larger. Because I was sucking up power to stretch my branches, the other trees were dying. But even understanding this, I did not stop trying to touch them. How many times did I repeat the same thing? Eventually, I was dozens of times the size of the other trees, and the clearing itself was dozens of times its original span. The same could be said of my loneliness. No matter how hard I reached, the day would never come when my pointed needles made contact with the leaves of another tree. But by the time I realized this, it was too late to turn back. My leaves and branches gobbled up incredible

amounts of sun, regardless of my wishes, and the vast lattice of my roots devoured the power of the earth. The cold empty space grew by the day as the trees fell over dead, one after another after another… “That is enough,” said a sudden voice, freeing me from the cedar. I blinked once, and instantly I was back in the Great Library, surrounded by an endless array of bookshelves lit by orange lamplight, resting on polished stone floor. Before me was a round table, upon which sat two swords. My Black One and Eugeo’s Blue Rose Sword. They both looked totally real, but this could not be true. Both of them were gone, confiscated when we were thrown into the cells. As I sat gazing emptily at the white and black swords, a small hand reached out from the other side of the table and grabbed the handle of the black sword first. It wavered, then vanished in silence. Next, she brushed the Blue Rose Sword. Again, it blinked away as though sucked up into her palm. “……Aye. I’ve received the memories of the swords that you have brought forth,” Cardinal said with satisfaction. I looked into the eyes of the black-robed girl across the table—and only then did I realize I had fallen into a kind of trance. Next to me, Eugeo’s green eyes wandered dully, then he suddenly jolted and blinked. “…Huh…? I was just…on the highest peak…of the End Mountains,” he murmured. I couldn’t help but smirk. “You were all the way up there, man?” “Yeah. It was incredibly cold and extremely lonely…” “Do not relax yet,” scolded Cardinal. I sat upright, realizing we’d been getting into chitchat mode. The little sage had her eyes closed. Her brows drew together slightly in concentration, and then she nodded. “Aha…I believe that simplifying the command is preferable to tweaking the technique itself. I shall start with your sword, Kirito.” She tapped the table with her left hand, silently producing a sheet of blank parchment. She then brushed the sheet with her other hand, sliding from top to bottom.

That simple action produced at least ten lines of command text. She spun the sheet around and slid it over to me, then repeated the process for Eugeo. The two of us shared a look and then glanced down to examine our sheets. The text, written in blue-black ink, was entirely in the sacred script (meaning the alphabet), with no commands in the common tongue (Japanese). In orthodox sacred arts format, the list was numbered down the left, with each entry’s command to the right. Starting from System Call at the top and ending with Enhance Armament on line ten, there were at least twenty-five command words in the list. That was shorter than the Perfect Control that Eldrie used on his Frostscale Whip, to be sure, but it was still a major task to memorize it all. “Ummm…I don’t suppose I could keep this as a cheat sheet…” “Of course not. Not even a fresh-faced new student at the academy would be allowed to peek at the text when demonstrating their practical skill,” Cardinal chided. “For one thing, if you removed any object connected to this library and it fell into enemy hands, that might lead to the unraveling of my spatial isolation.” “B-but…those knives…” “Those are linked to me personally—that’s different. Now get to memorizing and stop whining. Eugeo’s already working on his.” My head whipped around, and to my shock, goody-two-shoes Eugeo was already gazing intently at the list, his lips moving soundlessly. I gave up and looked back at my own list, just as Cardinal added a cruel condition to the exercise. “You have thirty minutes to memorize this list.” “Aw, come on…,” I protested. “What is this, an exam? At least give us more time to—” “Fool!” she thundered. “Listen to me: Your swords were confiscated when you were locked up at eleven o’clock the previous morning. Your ownership of the items will reset after twenty-four hours, which means you will no longer be able to utilize this Perfect Weapon Control at all!”

“Oh…r-right. And what time is it now…?” “Well after seven o’clock. Even allowed a full two hours to recover the weapons, you have very little time left.” “……Um, okay,” I admitted, giving the command list my undivided attention this time. Fortunately for me, the sacred arts of the Underworld, unlike magic spells in ALfheim Online, used familiar English terminology. The format was similar to programming language, so my memorization was aided by understanding the words, not just the sounds. The command list Cardinal wrote out was split into three major processes: (1) Accessing the object’s deep data (the sword’s memory) stored in the memory module; (2) selecting and molding the necessary portions alone; and (3) applying them to the current form of the sword to expand attack power. The methodology was similar to the “image buffer overwriting” experiment I tried out on the zephilia flowers back at the dorm, but none of the terms used were from the academy’s textbooks, meaning that only Cardinal would be able to come up with this combination, due to her knowledge of the entire command list. Even as I committed the ten commands to memory, a small part of my mind wandered. The Rath scientists who had created the Underworld called the data format that recorded all the objects in this world mnemonic visuals. Over two years (of my personal subjective time) ago, at Agil’s bar in Okachimachi in the real world, I had explained the broad concept to Asuna and Sinon. Through observation and experimentation, I had learned some things during my time here since. The Underworld, unlike traditional VRMMOs, was not made of polygonal models. A processor called the Main Visualizer read and buffered the sum experiences of all those who connected to—or lived in—the world, from rocks and trees to dogs and cats, tools, buildings, and so on. When needed, it would extract the necessary information to display to the diver. The reason I was able to grow the zephilia flowers that shouldn’t have grown in the northern empire was that I’d temporarily overwritten the average buffer data (“It doesn’t grow

here”) with the mental image that said it could grow. Furthermore: All objects in this world were saved as memories. So wouldn’t the reverse be true as well? Could memories be turned into objects? I had seen something before that I couldn’t explain in any other way. Two years and two months ago, when I first awoke in the forest south of Rulid, I wandered until I reached the banks of the Rul River. When I did, I was faced with an incredibly vivid image: that of a flaxen-haired boy and a blond girl walking against the backdrop of the setting sun—and a boy with short black hair, too. The image had vanished in a matter of seconds, but it was no trick of the eyes. Even now, if I closed my lids, I could see the burning red sunset, the light glinting off the girl’s waving hair, and the sounds of the kids treading through the grass. I had called the trio of children from my own memory. Obviously, one boy was Eugeo. The girl had to be Alice. And the black-haired boy… “That’s thirty minutes. How do you feel?” Cardinal said, cutting off the line of thought running through the back of my mind. I flipped over the sheet of parchment and envisioned the command from the start. For not giving it my undivided concentration, I was relieved to find that I could recall every last word. “I’ve got it probably perfect.” “That was somewhat of an oxymoron. How about you, Eugeo?” “Uh…um, I think I’ve got it probably per…probably fine.” “Very good,” Cardinal said, stifling a smirk. “Just so you know, while Perfect Control is a powerful technique, it must not be used at every single opportunity. Its use consumes a considerable amount of the sword’s life. On the other hand, it doesn’t do to save it up if you are about to fall. Gauge the moment; use it wisely. Afterward, you must return it to its sheath and allow the life to recover.” “That sounds…tough…,” I grumbled, then I flipped the parchment over again. I ran my eyes over the full command one more time for good measure and noticed something. “Huh? Wait a sec…The last phrase of this command is Enhance Armament, right?”

“Is there something wrong with that?” “N-no, that’s not what I mean. When we fought Eldrie, the Perfect Weapon Control technique he used had something else after that. It was, like, um…R… Rele…,” I mumbled. Eugeo stepped in to finish. “Release Recollection, I think. It was after he said that that his whip turned into a real snake. Boy, that really startled me.” “Yeah, exactly. Don’t we need something like that, too, Cardinal?” “Hrm,” the black-robed sage grumbled, looking annoyed. “Listen, there are two stages to Perfect Weapon Control: Enhancing and Release. Enhancing recalls specific portions of the weapon’s memory to unlock more attack power. And Release, as the name would suggest, unlocks and recalls all of the weapon’s memory to unleash its wildest power.” “Wildest power, huh…I guess that explains it. With Eldrie’s whip, he strengthened it to increase its range and split it into multiple parts, and then he released it so that it turned into a snake and attacked of its own will…” Cardinal blinked in affirmation and said, “Precisely so. But I must be clear up front that this is still beyond your means.” “Wh-why?” asked Eugeo, clearly surprised. The sage intoned, “It is the weapon’s wildest power, as I said. The strength created by Release Recollection is beyond the ability of a new wielder to control, especially for a divine-level weapon. It will harm you as much as the enemy—perhaps even be fatal to you.” “P-point taken,” said my partner, ever the obedient schoolboy. I had no choice but to accept her terms, too. But Cardinal could sense I was unconvinced, so she added, “The time will come when you can make use of Release…perhaps. The sword will teach you everything. But that assumes you can get it back first.” “Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. Cardinal rolled her eyes and tapped the base of her staff against the floor. The two parchments rolled themselves up on their own and even seemed to shrink

—only to be replaced by long, narrow baked goods. “You must be hungry after all that thinking. Eat up.” “Huh…? Are these magic treats that’ll help us remember the commands or something…?” “Of course not.” “Oh. Right.” Eugeo and I shared a look, then we picked up the sweets. At first, I thought they were the simple flour pastries with sugar sprinkled on top like the kind you could buy from the market in Centoria, but in fact, they were a much more realworld kind of delicacy: flaky piecrust coated with white chocolate. The combination of crispy texture and rich sweetness was so reminiscent of the real world that it nearly brought tears to my eyes. We raced to see who would finish first, and once I was done, I looked up with a sigh of satisfaction into Cardinal’s gentle, understanding eyes. The young sage nodded slowly and said, “Now…it is time for good-byes.” There was such a weight to that brief statement, I couldn’t help but deny it. “But once we complete our goals, you’ll be able to come out safely, right? Good-bye seems a little dramatic…” “That is correct. Assuming all goes well, of course…” “…” True, if we lost to the Integrity Knights at any point on our mission to reach the top of the cathedral, Cardinal would be forced to undergo another long, long wait. In fact, the stress test would probably arrive before she found another assistant, plunging the world into blood and flame. But despite the looming, tragic catastrophe waiting in the wings, Cardinal’s smile was pure and gentle. I felt an odd sensation clutch at my chest, and I bit my lip. She nodded almost imperceptibly and spun around. “Come. It is time. Follow me…and I will send you through the door closest to the third-floor armory.”

The walk from the first-floor library hall back to the entrance room with its countless back doors was disappointingly short. Under his breath, Eugeo silently mouthed the commands for his Perfect Weapon Control technique, while my eyes never left the small figure of Cardinal leading the way. I wanted to talk more. I wanted to know more about what she had thought and felt during those two hundred years in solitude. The sensation that I needed to know these things clawed its way up to my throat, but her pace was so quick and resolute that it brooked no discussion. Once we were in the familiar chamber with countless hallways leading off the three other walls, Cardinal beckoned us toward one on the right side. Only after walking down the thirty-foot hallway to the simple door waiting at the end did she finally stop and turn back to us. The smile on her pink lips was as gentle as ever. There was even a hint of a certain satisfaction there. In a crisp, clear tone, she said, “Eugeo…and Kirito. The fate of the world now rests on you two. Whether it is plunged into hellfire…or sinks into oblivion. Or,” she added, staring right at me, “if you find a third way. I have told you all that I can tell and given you all that I can give. As for the rest, simply follow in your beliefs.” “…Thank you, Cardinal,” Eugeo said, his voice brimming with determination. “I know I’ll reach the top of Central Cathedral…and bring Alice back.” I felt like I should say something, too, but no words came. Instead, I simply bowed my head in respect. Cardinal nodded resolutely, her smile now gone, and she grabbed the knob. “Now…go!” She turned it and, in the next moment, flung the door wide open. Eugeo and I pushed against the sudden rush of cold, dry air and leaped through. After five or six steps, I heard a small noise behind me and looked over my shoulder to see nothing but cold, smooth marble wall. There wasn’t a single

trace of the door to the Great Library.

CHAPTER EIGHT CENTRAL CATHEDRAL, MAY 380 HE 1 How very, very far we’ve come… The ceiling was high enough that he had to crane his neck to see. Pillars of marble stood all around, and the floor was a fine mosaic of different kinds of stones fitted together. Eugeo could scarcely breathe upon his first glimpse of the grand interior of the Axiom Church’s Central Cathedral. Until two years ago, his entire life, as far as he knew it, was to be vainly swinging an ax into a tree that would never fall down. His only sentiment would be to reflect on the memories of his long-lost golden-haired friend as he led a lonely life without marriage or children, dwelling deep in the forest until the day he grew old and handed the ax to a new generation and passed away with no one to tell his tale. It was the sudden arrival one day of a black-haired young man that had broken Eugeo’s tiny, suffocating world by force. Using methods the previous carvers could never have imagined, he had cut down the absolute barrier blocking the way to the big city and confronted Eugeo with a major decision: stay here in his tiny home, nursing his memories of Alice, or set out on a massive journey to get her back? It would be a lie to claim that he had never given it a second thought. When Chief Gasfut asked him what he wanted his next Calling to be on the night of the village festival, he had first considered his family. Up to that point, Eugeo had given his family his entire salary as the Gigas Cedar carver. They were traditionally a barley-farming family, but their fields

were small, and the recent run of poor harvests had left them little income. Eugeo’s steady monthly wages were a minor bedrock that he knew his parents and brothers relied upon, even if no one wanted to admit it. Once the Gigas Cedar was felled, that salary was gone, naturally. But if he chose to be a farmer, like his father, they would receive preferential choice of the large, sunny stretches ready to be tilled to the south. Standing at the pulpit amid the excited villagers, Eugeo looked into the hopeful and anxious faces of his family members. His hesitation had lasted only an instant. On one end of the scale was a reunion with his childhood friend, and on the other was the livelihood of his family. The scale tilted, and Eugeo announced that he would leave the village and be a swordsman. Even as a swordsman, he could choose to stay in Rulid and be one of the menat-arms, ensuring he’d still have a salary. But leaving the village meant leaving his family. The money that Eugeo made and the possibility of new, fertile fields would all go up in smoke. He hastily left the day after the festival because he couldn’t stand seeing the suppressed disappointment and unhappiness in the faces of his parents and brothers. There had been more opportunities to choose a life that supported his family after he and Kirito left Rulid. They competed in the swordfighting tournament in Zakkaria and won the right to join the garrison there. After hard training, they were given a recommendation to North Centoria Imperial Swordcraft Academy —but the commander also offered to keep them around, with the promise of promotions and maybe even a future place as the garrison commander. If he’d accepted that steady salary in Zakkaria and had sent some of it back to Rulid on the regular trading caravan, it could have made things so much easier for his family. And yet, Eugeo had turned down the commander’s offer and accepted the letter of recommendation instead. Along the way to Centoria, and even after joining the academy, a part of Eugeo’s mind had been busy making excuses. He’d be named school representative, win the Four-Empire Unification Tournament, and receive the

prestigious rank of Integrity Knight—and then his parents would have riches and comfort beyond their imagination. When he made his triumphant return with Alice, riding a dragon and outfitted in silver armor, his parents would be prouder of their youngest son than anyone could ever be. But two nights ago, when he had drawn his blade against Raios Antinous and Humbert Zizek, Eugeo had betrayed his family for the third time. He gave up on the very real possibility of noble rank in his future…and chose to violate the Taboo Index, sacrificing his common status in the process. Even as overwhelming rage drove his actions, a part of Eugeo had understood that if he attacked, he would lose everything. And yet, still he made the choice to go ahead. He could say it was to uphold his personal sense of justice and save Tiese and Ronie from being raped, but that wasn’t all of it. He wanted to unleash the raging thirst to kill, to erase all traces of Raios and Humbert from the world. There was a pit of black desire in his heart. How very, very far he had come… From one of twelve elite, prestigious students at the academy to a traitor against the Axiom Church—and now there he was, stepping on the most hallowed ground in the entire world. After escaping from the archer knight and winding up in a vast, enigmatic library, the little girl who claimed to be the previous pontifex of the Church showed him books full of the world’s history, which he practically devoured. He had a pressing question to answer: How many people, in the long arc of history, had ever defied the Church, fought the Integrity Knights, achieved their desires, and safely escaped? Sadly, he didn’t find a single anecdote of such a thing in the historical record. The glory of the Church illuminated the world, and all peoples bowed before the might of the Integrity Knights. These things easily solved even the gravest of troubles—imperial border squabbles, for example. No matter how far he dug into the thick history tomes, he found no instances of anyone attacking the Church and fighting the knights. That means that in 380 years of history, ever since Stacia created the world, I am the most sinful person who has ever lived.

He felt a freezing chill assault him as he closed the book. If Kirito hadn’t returned at that very moment, he might have fallen to the ground and curled up into a ball. Even as the mysterious little former pontifex explained the ways of the world to them, Eugeo couldn’t help but grapple with himself. He’d abandoned his family, attacked another person, and chosen to fight the Church. He could never go back to his old life. The only way out was forward—bloodied hands, soiled soul, and all. There was just one goal ahead of him. He had to retrieve the heart fragment stolen by the pontifex, turn Alice Synthesis Thirty back into Alice Zuberg, and take her home to Rulid Village. But his hope for actually living with her was probably gone by now. There was no place he could live after his many sins anymore, except for the horrifying Dark Territory beyond the End Mountains. But even that was a price worth paying if it meant Alice could go back home and live in happiness again. Eugeo watched Kirito walk before him, turning over this secret determination in his head. If I said I was going to the Dark Territory, would you come with me…? He stopped himself before he could imagine his partner’s answer. The blackhaired boy was the only person in the entire world standing in this position with him. The idea that they might travel separate paths in the not-too-distant future was too frightening to ponder. As Cardinal had warned, the hallway from the doorway was surprisingly short. He barely had time to get lost in his thoughts before they arrived at a spacious rectangular room. In the center of the right-hand wall was a surprisingly large staircase leading upward. The ceiling was about eight mels above, so there were a good twenty steps before the stairs stopped at a landing. On the left-hand wall was a set of large double doors surrounded by sculptures of winged beasts. Kirito flung out his hand and pressed against the wall, so Eugeo followed his lead and backed against a nearby pillar. They held their breath and listened intently for any presence in the dim chamber.

If the former pontifex was correct, those doors on the left would lead to the armory. For being so important, however, the chamber was silent and appeared empty. Even the light of Solus coming down from the stairs on the right seemed chilly and gray. “…Looks like there’s no one here…,” he whispered to Kirito, who seemed a bit surprised. “It’s an armory, so you’d figure there would at least be a soldier or two on guard…but I guess nobody’s going to sneak into the Axiom Church to steal weapons, anyway…” “Still, they know we’re here, right? They don’t seem too concerned.” “They probably aren’t. They figure they don’t need to bother searching around for us. So the next time we run across an Integrity Knight, it’ll either be a whole bunch of them or a really tough individual. Let’s make the most of our leeway, then,” Kirito said, finishing with a snort. He darted out from the shadow of the wall, and Eugeo followed him across the empty room. The doors of the armory, carved with reliefs of the goddesses Solus and Terraria, were so imposing and stately that even without a keyhole, it almost seemed to suggest that they would not open to anyone who wasn’t pure of faith. Kirito put an ear to one of the doors and yanked on the handles. They opened with almost disappointing ease—there wasn’t even the squeak of a hinge. The dark space beyond the fifty-cen opening exuded the chill of centuries of silence. Eugeo shivered, then had to hurry to squeeze through after Kirito entered without a care. The doors swung heavily shut behind them, leaving them in perfect darkness. “System Call…” Their voices spoke in perfect unison, and in spite of the dead-serious situation, Eugeo couldn’t help but smile. The rest of the command was Generate Luminous Element, which reminded Eugeo of the time they’d gone to find Selka in the Northern Cave two years ago. At the time, even the simplest of beginning sacred arts was unbelievably hard to execute, and they could only weakly light the end of a stick.

A source of pure white light appeared above his palm, driving away the thick darkness and Eugeo’s wistful recollection along with it. “Whoa…,” Kirito murmured. Eugeo swallowed. What incredible size. The word armory had called to mind a space like the supply closet at the academy, but nothing could be further from the truth here. It was at least as big as the great training hall where Kirito had sparred with Volo Levantein. The light element danced upward from Eugeo’s palm, reflecting off all the polished stone walls—and more importantly, off shining metal of every variety and color. The floor was packed with wooden stands for full sets of armor. Black armor, white armor, bronze, silver, gold—a blinding array of shades, as well as shapes, from light chain and boiled leather to seamless slabs of heavy plate. There had to be at least five hundred sets in the room. And hanging all over the high walls was an assortment of what appeared to be every conceivable weapon. Even with swords alone, there were long and short ones, thick and slender, straight and curved. There were single-and doublebladed axes, spears, lances, war hammers, whips, bludgeons, and bows—every possible variation of weaponry in uncountable numbers, stretching from floor to ceiling. Eugeo’s mouth dropped open and hung there. “…If Sortiliena ever saw this place, she might just pass out,” Kirito finally whispered, breaking the silence after many seconds. “Yeah…I think Golgorosso would have leaped onto that greatsword there and never let go,” Eugeo muttered, letting out his breath at last. He looked around the room again and shook his head a few times. “I don’t get it…Is the Church going to form its own army or something? You’d think the Integrity Knights were enough…” “Hmm…To fight the forces of darkness? No, not quite,” Kirito murmured, looking pensive. Then he turned to his friend. “It’s the opposite. They’re not creating an army…they’ve collected all these weapons to keep one from being created. I bet all these things are Divine Objects, or the next best thing to them.

Administrator must have been worried about any other group getting these powerful weapons, so she gathered them all here to keep that strength out of the hands of others…” “Huh…? What does that mean? No group would ever fight back against the Axiom Church, even if they did have powerful weapons.” “Maybe it means that the one with the least faith in the Church’s power is the pontifex herself,” Kirito said drily. Eugeo didn’t understand that at first, and his partner patted him on the back before he could figure it out. “C’mon, we don’t have time. Let’s find our swords.” “Uh…y-yeah. It’ll be hard to pick them out of here, though…” The Blue Rose Sword and the Black One were in white and black leather scabbards with little ornamentation, and there were a number of similarlooking blades along the walls. “…We probably used up too many spatial resources with that light element to use darkness search arts again,” Eugeo lamented, wishing that they’d only cast one light instead of two. Then Kirito simply said, “Oh! Found ’em.” He pointed back, just to the left of the doorway they’d just walked through. “Whoa…there they are.” Indeed, there was a white and black pair of swords in that direction, undeniably the ones belonging to them. Eugeo gazed at his partner in disbelief. “Kirito, how did you know without using sacred arts…?” “I figured that if they were the last ones brought here, they’d be closest to the door.” Kirito shrugged. Normally he’d have a proud, childish smirk on his face in this kind of situation, but now he was staring pensively at his sword. Then he exhaled, relaxed, and walked over to grab the black leather scabbard. He paused for the briefest of moments, then lifted it off the display holder. He grabbed the Blue Rose Sword with his other hand and tossed it over. Eugeo hastily reached out to catch it and felt a familiar weight on his wrists. He’d been separated from his blade for less than two days, but even he was

surprised at the sudden surge of sentiment and relief as he clutched the sheath in both hands. Ever since they felled the Gigas Cedar in his hometown, the Blue Rose Sword had been at his side. It had helped him through several great challenges, from the tournament in Zakkaria to the entrance duel at Swordcraft Academy, and even when he broke the Taboo Index to cut off Humbert’s arm. If the Axiom Church had been stockpiling powerful weapons for years and years, then it was nothing short of miraculous good luck that the Blue Rose Sword had been sleeping undisturbed in that cave for centuries. It was fate— proof that their route to taking Alice back was correct… “Don’t just stand there drinking it in; strap it on already,” Kirito chided him. Eugeo came back to his senses and saw that his partner had already fastened his sheath to his sword belt. He smiled awkwardly and did the same, then patted the hilt with satisfaction. The expensive-looking sets of armor had nameplates displayed nearby with impressive names like Armor of a Thousand Thunderbolts and Quake Mountain Plate. “…What do you think, Kirito? There are so many, I’m sure we can find some armor that fits us.” “No, we’ve never worn armor before. It’s better not to try something you’re not used to. Let’s just take some clothes from over there,” he replied, pointing to the end of the line of armor, where a variety of colorful outfits waited. Eugeo looked down at his own school uniform, which was dirty and torn from two days’ use, the battle against Eldrie, and the frantic escape afterward. “You’re right. Pretty soon these will be more tatters than clothes.” The two light elements overhead were starting to dim. Eugeo abandoned his hope for armor and pored through the expensive-looking fabrics until he found shirts and pants that seemed the right size for them. They turned their backs for privacy and got to changing. Eugeo ran his arms through the ultramarine shirt, which was very similar in tone to his school uniform, and marveled at the smoothness of its texture. He turned around and found that Kirito was reacting in a similar way, running his hands over the black fabric.

“…I bet these clothes have some kind of special origin, too. Let’s hope they can help stop the Integrity Knights’ attacks.” “Don’t get your hopes up too high.” Eugeo chuckled, then got serious. “So… shall we go?” “Yeah…let’s do it.” They returned to the entrance. Everything so far had been going so easily, it almost felt wrong—but that wouldn’t last long. They shared a moment of knowing determination—ready for anything that might come—as they each took a door handle, Eugeo on the right and Kirito on the left. They pulled gently, just barely opening it a crack, when— Thak-thak-thak! A number of metal arrows thudded into the outer surface of the thick doors. “Whoa!” “What the—?” The force of the impact knocked the doors farther inward, sending both Eugeo and Kirito tumbling to the floor. Standing on the landing at the top of the great staircase on the other side of that rectangular entrance hall was a knight wearing familiar red armor, notching fresh arrows—four at once, in fact—to a longbow as tall as he was. It was the Integrity Knight who had chased them around the rose garden on the dragon. The range between both was about thirty mels. It was way too far for a sword to reach but close enough for a master archer to strike with perfect accuracy. They wouldn’t have time to pull their swords free, much less recover from their fall and scramble to safety behind the walls.